Washing machine provided with motor reversing means



Jan. 26, 1965 N. K. LINDGREN 3,

WASHING MACHINE PROVIDED WITH MOTOR REVERSING MEANS Filed Dec. 21, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 -4 as VERS/NG wwr IN VEN TOR. 64 Aug w.

A; ATTORNEY Jan. 26,1965 N. K. LINDGREN 3,167,701

WASHING MACHINE PROVIDED WITH MOTOR REVERSING MEANS Filed Dec. 21, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 (2) ll, i- J/ o h h a Jan. 26, 1965 N. K. LINDGREN 3,167,701

WASHING MACHINE PROVIDED WITH MOTOR REVERSING MEANS Filed Dec. 21, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 26, 1965 N. K. LlNDGREN 3,167,701

WASHING MACHINE PROVIDED WITH MOTOR REVERSING MEANS Filed Dec. 21, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /52 y1 ///////////,V I In INVENTOR.

/Vxl 1m 4644M- B QWMM United States Patent ()fiice 3,167,701 Patented Jan. 26, 1965 3,167,701 WASHING MACHINE PROVIDED WITH MOTOR REVERSING MEANS Nils Kauri Lindgren, Stockholm, Sweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget Electrolux, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Dec. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 861,052

Claims priority, application Sweden, Dec. 23, 1958,

11,997/ 58 10 Claims. (Cl. 318-282) This invention relates to washing machines and, more particularly, to arrangements for providing reversible sources of rotary power for the same. The invention also relates to reversing mechanisms and devices.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved arrangement for reversing the direction of rotation of the rotary mechanism of a washing machine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved arrangement for operating a reversing switch.

Another object of the invention relates to the provision of a mechanism which provides for a delay or hiatus between the sequential operations of a rotary mechanism in opposite directions of rotation.

Still another object of the invention relates to the provision of an improved washing machine wherein the washing liquor and the articles being washed are provided with improved relative movements.

Still another object of the invention is to provide for the reversing of a rotary mechanism without causing undue strain on the same.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide for the avoiding of undue snarling of clothing during treatment of the same in a washing machine.

Still another object of the invention relates to the provision, in a rotating system, of a reversing system, whereby rotation is first interrupted and then reversed after a finite period.

Still another object of the inventionis the provision of improved means for coupling a reversing system to a sources of rotary power in a washing machine.

In achieving the above and other of its objectives, the invention contemplates generally the provision of a driven means such as a rotary member which is adapted for being rotated selectively in opposite directions and a source of rotary power adapted for driving said driven means. Further, there is provided a reversing means coupled tosaid source for reversing the rotary powerwhich the latter supplies, said reversing means controlling the source to halt the rotation of said driven means for a finite period between the rotation of the latter in one end and the other of its opposite directions of rotation.

Other objects, as well as advantages and features of the invention, will be found in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates diagrammatically and in vertical longitudinal section part of a washing machine including the improvement of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically and diagrammatically the circuit of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, with a reversing unit of the invention associated therewith;

FIG. 4 illustrates a detail of the apparatus whereby the source of rotary power of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 is connected with the reversing unit of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 (taken along line 55 of FIG. 7) illustrates in section a detail of the construction of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the above-noted reversing unit with the casing thereof removed;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the reversing unit with the casing removed, this figure illustrating the connection of the reversing unit to the source of rotary power;

FIG. 8 illustrates the reversing unit with the parts thereof arranged as they would be during the hiatus which occurs in the process of reversing the direction of the rotary power;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 99 of FEG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 7 illustrating the reversing unit after the direction of rotation has been reversed;

FIG. 11 illustrates the top of the reversing unit with the casing thereof removed; and

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line 12-12 of FIG. 8. V

A washing machine illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a casing or frame 20 of conventional form defining in part a chamber 22 in which clothes and like articles are agitated in a washing liquor and thus cleaned. An agitator is illustrated in the form of the driven member 24 which is rotated in one or the other of its opposite rotary directions as indicated by arrow 26. In accordance with the invention, the agitator may be driven for an extended period in one direction and is then brought to a halt for a controllable period before the direction is reversed.

The agitator or driven member 24 is mounted on a shaft 28 extending in conventional water-tight manner through a wall of the casing 29. Also, mounted on the shaft 28 is a pulley 30 connected by a belt 32 to a pulley 34 driven by an electric motor 36 which is the source of rotary power.

The motor 36 rotates a friction wheel 38 which in turn drives the wheel 40 by means of which pulley 34 is rotated. The pulley 34 and wheel 40 are mounted on a shaft 42. At the free extremity of shaft 42 is provided a worm 44 which drives a worm wheel 46. The purpose of the worm wheel will become hereinafter apparent.

In accordance with the invention, it is desired that the agitator 24 be driven in one directon of rotation for a determinable period of time and that the agitator then be halted for a finite period of time before the direction of rotation is reversed. To this end, the washing machine comprises the circuit schematicaliy illustrated in FIG. 3 and the reversing unit diagrammatically illustrated therein.

In the circuit of FIG. 3 is included the motor 36. It comprises a rotor 48 Whose connection to the worm 44 is diagrammatically illustrated by means of chain line 50. The motor 36 further comprises field windings 52 and 54 which are selectively rendered operative so as to rotate the rotor 48 in one direction or the other. The field windings are coupled via windings 56 and 58 which are connected in series to a potentiometer or voltage control member 60. The function of windings 56 and 58 is to align the magnetic field of the motor with respect to the carbon brushes 57a and 57b.

Potentiometer 60 is coupled to one pole of a source 62 of AC. voltage, the other pole of which is coupled via a line 64 and the carbon brush 57a to the rotor 48 and thence to a line 66. A connection between the line 66 and one of the field windings 52 and 54 determines the direction in which the rotor 48 is rotated and this connection is determined by the reversing unit 68 in a manner which will hereinafter be described in detail. It is, however, pertinent to note at this point that line 66 is connected to the reversing unit 68 and lines 70 and 72 respectively are connected to field windings 52 and 54 for purposes of selectively activating the latter.

The direction of rotation of rotor 48 determines the direction of rotation of worm 44 and thereby of worm wheel 46. With reference also to FIGS. 4 and 5, it is seen that worm wheel 46 supports an .axial extending lug 74 at a position spaced from the axis of said wheel. This lug engages and displaces an arm 76 consisting of two sections 76a and 76b. Engaged by section 7611 is a rod '78 and the displacement of arm 76 in an arcuate or circular manner is converted to a linear displacement of rod 78 in the direction of its axis as will be seen. Rod 78 is mechanically coupled to reversing unit 68 and in effect couples the reversing unit 68 to the source of rotary power of the washing machine. In response to movements of rod 7 8, the reversing unit 68 connects line 66 selectively with one of lines 7 i) and 72.

In general, the reversing unit 68 stores energy in re sponse to the displacement of rod 78. When the reversing unit 68 has stored a determinable level of energy as corresponds with a determinable displacement of rod 78, this energyis'released at a controllable rate. During the release of said energy at this controllable rate, there is no connection between line 66 and either of lines 74) and 72. Following the release of a determinable amount of this energy, the reversing unit 68 then connects line 66 to one of lines 7 i1 and 72 to provide a reversed operation of the washing machine.

Since the reversing unit 63 has a maximum capacity of energy storage which corresponds to a certain displacement of rod 78 as will be seen, provision is made to per' mit the rotation of worm wheel 46 after this maximum has been reached without damaging any of the components of unit 68. For this reason arm 76 is provided in sections 76a and 76b as aforesaid, these sections being urged against one another due to the cooperative efforts of a washer 81) (FIG. and a spring s2 which exerts an axial force against the member 76!). v

The lug 74 which as aforesaid extends axially of the wheel 46 engages arm 76 and causes a rotation of said arm and thus a movement of rod 78. When movement of rod 78 is'no longer possible, section 76b moves axially against the force of spring 82 and sections 76a and 761) separate since these sections are engaged with each other by means of ridge and groove arrangement 86 whereby the sections engage in" the manner of a dog clutch.

From the above description it appears that the rotary power provided by source or motor 36 is not only employed to rotate agitator 24, but is furthermore converted into a linear movement of the rod 78. Since the motor 36 is reversible, rod 78 can move in either direction along of rotor 4-8. As will be shown, only one of lines 70 and 72 is connected to line 66 at a time so that three conditions obtain, to wit: either of field windings 52 and 54 is rendered operative or neither is rendered operative.

Reference will be made next to FIG. 7 with respect to explaining the operation of reversing unit 68 and in FIG. 7 are illustrated contact 164, displaceable member 94, lug 74, arm 76 and rod 78, rod 78 being provided with a knob 114 engaged in an opening 116 in arm 76 by means of which the rotary movement of arm 76 is converted to a linear movement of rod 78.

At the bottom of the casing 88 of the unit 63 is provided a slide 118. This slide supports two movable members The separating of these members operates to place spring 1 132 under tension. Fixedly mounted on rod 78 are two I collars 134 and 136. By means of these collars, displacement of rod 73 can be employed to effect a relative disits own axis. Movement of the rod 78 functions to actuate the reversing unit 68 the details of which'are illustrated in FIGS. 6-12. a

The reversing unit 68 is provided as shown in FIGS. 6-12 with a casing 88 of plastic or like insulating material, the cover of which has been removed to enable an examination of the internal construction of this unit. To correlate the details of switching unit 68 with the schematic circuit of FIG. 3, attention is directed to lines 66, 70 and 72 in FIG. 11 wherein is also illustrated rod 78.

As is seen in FIG. 11, line 66 is connected to a common conducting bar 91) whereby the voltage applied to line 66 is passed to displaceable members 92 and 94 of a switch or control 96. On displaceable members 92 and 94 are provided contacts 98 and 100 adapted to engage contacts 192 (FIG. 10) and 1194 F-1G. 7), respectively. Contacts 102 I and ltM'are in turn respectively connected to conducting strips 166 and 1% which are connected to terminals 110 and 112 to which are connected lines 76 and 72.

From what has been stated above, it will be clear that if neither of displaceable members 92 and 94- is engaged with the associated contact 162 or 194, line 66. is not connected to either of lines 76 or 72 and the circuit of rotor 48 is open and the motor 36 is inoperative. It is likewise clear that a selective engagement of contacts '98 and 162 or, in the alternative 1% and 16 5, will close a circuit'selectively through either line 76 or 72 and will thus bring into play one of field windings 52 or 54. (PEG; 3) thus selectively controlling the direction of rotation placement between the member 126 or 122. For example, with the members 121) and 122 positioned as illustrated in FIG. 7, a movement of rod 78to the right will be effective through the intermediary of collar 136 to displace member 122 to the right. The operation of members and 122 will be further explained hereinafter.

As is best shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 10, beneath slide 118 are provided two pivotal levers or releases 138 and 140. These levers are generally pivotal about lugs 142 and 144 engagedin appropriate apertures in slide 118. The lever 138 further includes lugs 14-6 and 148 and the lever 146 further comprises lugs 150 and 152. Levers 138 and 140 are normally urged upwardly by means of springs 154 and 156 whereupon the associated lugs protrude upwardly through the associated apertures provided in slide 118. Lugs 148 and 152, as will be seen, constitute release lugs for releasing energy stored in the spring 132. v

V Returning momentarily to the displaceable members 92 and 94 of FIG. 11, it is to be seen in FIGS. 7 and 10 that these displaceable members include downwardly depending portions 158 and 160, respectively. Furthermore, it is seen that displaceable member 92 is positioned beneath a fixed arm 162 whereas displaceable member 94 is positioned beneath a fixed arm 164-. Arms 162 and 164 tend to operate in conjunction with displaceable members 92 and 94 to limit the displacement of the latter which include spring sections 166 and 168 tending to urge contacts 98 and away from contacts 102 and 164.

For the purpose of overcoming the normal action of spring sections 166 and 168, there is provided a control member 170. This control member selectively engages depending portions 158 and 160 so asto operate selectively the displaceable members 92 and 94 to engage the respective contacts.

Movement of member 170 is to a large extent controlled by displacement of the members 120 and 122.

Member 170 is, however, additionally mounted on a piston rod 172 which not only guides the movement of member 170, but also controls the rate of displacement thereof. To this end piston rod 172 is operatively associated with a piston in the dash pot or delay device 174 provided with an adjustable orifice means 176 so the speed of admission or venting of air from the dash pot 174 is adjustable.

As indicated in FIG. 7, member 120 is held or fixed in position by lug 148 on lever 138. Movement of rod 78 to the right operates through collar 136 to displace member 122 to-the right, the rod 78 sliding through the flanges of member 121 Since flange 130 is provided with opening 178, it passes over lug 146. However, flange 128 strikes against lug 146 and rocks lever 138 to. disengage 3 lug 148 from member 120. Immediately thereafter the position of member 122 is fixed by lug 146 when lever 138 resumes its normal position under the influence of spring 154.

During the movement of member 122 to the right with member 120 being held in position, spring 132 is stretched and acts as an energy accumulator. During the period member 122 is moving to the right, member 1'70 remains in position engaged with depending portion 160. Movable member 94 is therefore held against contact 104 and line 66 is coupled to line 72.

Following the release of member 120, member 170 is moved to the right and, as shown in FIG. 8, members 92 and 94 are separated from contacts 102 and 104 and motor 36 is rendered inoperative. The period of time for which the motor is inoperative is determined by the time required for member 170 to move from the position shown in FIG. 7 to that shown in FIG. 10. This in turn depends on the strength of spring 132 and the action of dash pot 174.

Finally, member 170 assumes the position shown in FIG. 10 and member 92 is brought into engagement with contact 102. This connects line 66 to line 70 and the rotation of rotor 48 is reversed.

Due to the symmetrical arrangement of parts, the above operation is reversed and line 72 next coupled to line 66, the reversing operations being eitected by the reversed movement of rod 78.

There will now be obvious to those skilled in the art, many modifications and variations of the above structure. These modifications and variations will, however, come within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A washing machine comprising driven means adapted for being rotated selectively in opposite directions, a source of rotary power coupled to said driven means for rotating the latter, the rotary power being reversible for the selective driving of said driven means in opposite directions, and reversing means coupled to said source for reversing said rotary power, said reversing means interrupting the rotation of said driven means between the rotation thereof in one and the other of said opposite directions and comprising an energy accumulator which stores energy in response to said rotary power, a release operatively associated with said accumulator and responsive to said source for releasing the energy from said accumulator, a delay device coupled to said accumulator for causing the latter to release its energy over a finite period of time, and a control means coupled to said accumulator and to said source and being responsive to the accumulator for reversing the rotary power, said control means being responsive to the accumulator during the releasing of said energy to terminate the supply of rotary power by said source.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 comprising yieldable means connecting said source to said accumulator.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 comprising means coupling said source to said accumulator and converting the rotary power into a linear movement to which said accumulator is responsive.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1 comprising an electrical power supply wherein said source is an electrical device and said control means comprises a switch coupling said supply to said device selectively to terminate said rotary power and to reverse the direction of the same.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said accumulator comprises relatively movable members, a spring coupling said members, and means coupling one of said members to said source for displacing said one member against the force of said spring, said release comprising means to fix the other of said members and to release said other member upon a determinable displacement of said one member.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein said delay device is a dash pot operatively disposed with respect to said other member for regulating the movement thereof by said spring.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein said release is a pivotable lever including :1 lug constituting said means to fur the other of said members, said lever being operatively disposed with respect to said one member to be displaced thereby.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein said control means is a switch including two sections operated by said members.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 5 comprising a shaft coupled to said source of rotary power, a pulley on said shaft, a belt on said pulley and coupled to said driven means to drive the latter, a worm on said shaft, a worm wheel operatively engaged with said worm, an arm operatively coupled to said worm wheel and driven thereby and a rod connecting said arm to said accumulator.

10. A machine as claimed in claim 9 wherein said arm comprises two yieldably connected sections, one of which is operatively engaged with said rod and the other of which is operatively coupled to said worm wheel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,376,393 Balzer May 3, 1921 1,955,382 Hanney Apr. 17, 1934 2,237,373 Sinclair Apr. 8, 1941 2,407,537 Chapman Sept. 10, 1946 2,648,040 Schneider Aug. 4, 1953 2,747,152 Greene May 22, 1956 2,800,538 Kuhn July 23, 1957 2,855,475 Cromwell Oct. 7, 1958 

1. A WASHING MACHINE COMPRISING DRIVEN MEANS ADAPTED FOR BEING ROTATED SELECTIVELY IN OPPOSITE DIRECTION, A SOURCE OF ROTARY POWER COUPLED TO SAID DRIVEN MEANS FOR ROTATING THE LATTER, THE ROTARY POWER BEING REVERSIBLE FOR THE SELECTIVE DRIVING OF SAID DRIVEN MEANS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS, AND REVERSING MEANS COUPLED TO SAID SOURCE FOR REVERSING SAID ROTARY POWER, SAID REVERSING MEANS INTERRUPTING THE ROTATION OF SAID DRIVEN MEANS BETWEEN THE ROTATION THEREOF IN ONE AND THE OTHER OF SAID OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS AND COMPRISING AN ENERGY ACCUMULATOR WHICH STORES ENERGY IN RESPONSE TO SAID ROTARY POWER, A RELEASE OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID ACCUMULATOR AND RESPONSE TO SAID SOURCE FOR RELEASING THE ENERGY FROM SAID ACCUMULATOR, A DELAY DEVICE COUPLED TO SAID ACCUMULATOR FOR CAUSING THE LATTER TO RELEASE ITS ENERGY OVER A FINITE PERIOD OF TIME, AND A CONTROL MEANS COUPLED TO SAID ACCUMULATOR AND TO SAID SOURCE AND BEING RESPONSIVE TO THE ACCUMULATOR FOR REVERSING THE ROTARY POWER, SAID CONTROL MEANS BEING RESPONSIVE TO THE ACCUMULATOR DURING THE RELEASING OF SAID ENERGY TO TERMINATE THE SUPPLY OF ROTARY POWER BY SAID SOURCE. 